OS1/1/80/83
| List of names as written | Various modes of spelling | Authorities for spelling | Situation | Description remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SANDS OF FORVIE | Sands of Forvie Sands of Forvie Sands of Forvie Sands of Forvie |
History of Buchan page 24 by the Revd [Reverend] John B. Pratt M.A. [Master of Arts] Mr George Robertson. Collieston. Mr Robert Clark. Lousylaw. Mr George Sangster. Whiteness. |
048 | This name is applied to what once was the parish of Forvie, which is now a sandy desert, extending from the River Ythan, to the Coastguard Station at Collieston, and running inland for about three and a half miles. The late minister of the parish, the Revd [Reverend] Gavin Gib Dunn, was anxious to discover the time when the parish of Forvie was united to that of Slains, but so completely has the history of this remarkable locality been obliterated by the stream of ages, that he was wholly unsuccessful. "All my endeavours", says he, "to ascertain the era at which the parish of Forvie was annexed to that of Slains, have entirely failed." Nor is the period at which the parish was overblown, or the cause by which the catastrophe was brought about, very well authenticated. It is said that the calamity happened in the year 1688, and that it was the result of a furious storm from the east, of nine days' duration. There was in the library of Slains Castle, as late as 1830, an old rent-roll of great part of the parish, with the names of the farms and their occupants. The recovery of this volume is much to be desired, as it would throw considerable light on this interesting subject. But where authentic history fails, popular tradition - aided probably by a love of the marvellous - comes to our assistance. The traditionary tale of "The Sands of Forvie" is as follows: About four hundred years ago, the proprietor to whom the parish then belonged, died, leaving his lands to his three daughters. In that lawless age, the helpless orphans were, through fraud and violence, despoiled of their inheritance. Being thrown upon the world, they, in the bitterness of their hearts, prayed to heaven to avenge their wrongs, and to make the fair fields of which they had been so unjustly defrauded, worthless to the ravager and his posterity. An old rhyme embodies the malediction of the fair sufferers:- "Yf evyr maydenis malysone Dyd licht upon drye lande, Let nocht bee funde in Furvye's glebys Bot thystle, bente, and Sande." [Continued on page 84] |
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[Page] 83Aberdeenshire -- Parish of Slains
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CorrieBuidhe- Moderator, lauren
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